2012: Year of the MBP

[freeman727]

I think I will have to get off the Mac Pro train in 2012. When the Macbook Pro has the Ivy Bridge CPU with video equivalent to the 5770 I have now, I see no need for a power hungry and space occupying, albeit beautiful, machine. Thunderbolt solutions will be a plenty for multiple drives and I'll have portability to boot. I don't take advantage of the extra PCI-e solts as it is. The only thing I hope for is a Thunderbolt adapter for multiple video outputs.

By then large capacity SSD drives and 2x8GB memory should be reasonable.

Blasphemous as it sounds, Thunderbolt 2 (or whatever they call it) will spell the end to the Mac Pro.

Opinions?

 

[Hellhammer]

It's not all about one port. Yes, that will give you possibility for fast external storage and multiple external displays but even with IB CPUs, MBPs will be much slower than Mac Pros.

 

[mjsmke]

Faster external storage is not a priority for me. Neither is having more than 2-3 monitors.

I will always choose a desktop over a laptop. I cant stand working on laptops.

 

[Umbongo]

I think I will have to get off the Mac Pro train in 2012. When the Macbook Pro has the Ivy Bridge CPU with video equivalent to the 5770 I have now, I see no need for a power hungry and space occupying, albeit beautiful, machine. Thunderbolt solutions will be a plenty for multiple drives and I'll have portability to boot. I don't take advantage of the extra PCI-e solts as it is. The only thing I hope for is a Thunderbolt adapter for multiple video outputs.

By then large capacity SSD drives and 2x8GB memory should be reasonable.

Blasphemous as it sounds, Thunderbolt 2 (or whatever they call it) will spell the end to the Mac Pro.

Opinions?

Dual processor Socket R workstations, of which the next Mac Pro will be, will have 6 times the processing power of the current Macbook Pros and 32 times the memory capacity. How is fast I/O going to make up for that?

 

[v66jack]

I think that I'll be hoping off the MacBook pro band wagon in 2012, and climb aboard the MacBook air express.

 

[freeman727]

I am speaking from a perspective of a casual Mac Pro who does occasional Photoshop and Video editing.

As far as working off of a laptop. You can make any notebook feel like a desktop via external monitor, keyboard and mouse.

They will probably be able to squeeze a hex core processor into the iMac when that chip becomes available.

The only needs for a Mac Pro are super heavy duty 3D processing, engineering and physics. Mark my word, the demand for the Mac Pro will certainly drop. If they don't drop the Mac Pro, then they will have to increase the relative price because of economies of scale. Hypothetically if they only make 10,000 MP/year instead of 20,000 MP/year then their buying power for parts is less and suppliers will charge more for parts. It's simple economics.

I'm sure that people who still need the power of dual processors for their line of work will not mind the mild price increases.

 

[toxic]

if you only do "occasional Photoshop and video editing", an MP probably wasn't for you in the first place.

the MBP has the same flaw it always has: it's a laptop. a laptop does not have the cooling efficiency of a desktop, it doesn't support add-on cards, maintenance is difficult.... if those don't mean much to you, great, but there's much more to a computer than just specifications.

 

[freeman727]

if you only do "occasional Photoshop and video editing", an MP probably wasn't for you in the first place.

the MBP has the same flaw it always has: it's a laptop. a laptop does not have the cooling efficiency of a desktop, it doesn't support add-on cards, maintenance is difficult.... if those don't mean much to you, great, but there's much more to a computer than just specifications.

Agreed. I guess I'm not the intended target for the Mac Pro, but up until now the MBP and iMac did not have the power that I wanted. With the newer Macbook Pros and iMacs, I wonder what percentage of people who buy the Mac Pro really need what the Mac Pro has to offer? In other words what percentage of folks who buy a new Mac Pro actually need a Mac Pro. I bet you at best half. The half who don't need it can get by really comfortably with an iMac or Macbook Pro.

 

[Umbongo]

Agreed. I guess I'm not the intended target for the Mac Pro, but up until now the MBP and iMac did not have the power that I wanted. With the newer Macbook Pros and iMacs, I wonder what percentage of people who buy the Mac Pro really need what the Mac Pro has to offer? In other words what percentage of folks who buy a new Mac Pro actually need a Mac Pro. I bet you at best half. The half who don't need it can get by really comfortably with an iMac or Macbook Pro.

Actually 78.5% of Mac Pro buyers purchase them because they are the most suitable system.

 

[scottsjack]

I think I will have to get off the Mac Pro train in 2012. When the Macbook Pro has the Ivy Bridge CPU with video equivalent to the 5770 I have now, I see no need for a power hungry and space occupying, albeit beautiful, machine. Thunderbolt solutions will be a plenty for multiple drives and I'll have portability to boot. I don't take advantage of the extra PCI-e solts as it is. The only thing I hope for is a Thunderbolt adapter for multiple video outputs.

By then large capacity SSD drives and 2x8GB memory should be reasonable.

Blasphemous as it sounds, Thunderbolt 2 (or whatever they call it) will spell the end to the Mac Pro.

Opinions?

Wow, another user of Apple product-X sees the end of that particular Apple product-X because HE no longer wants to use Apple Product-X. How many million versions of the OP's post are littered across the Internet's Mac forums?

 

[freeman727]

Wow, another user of Apple product-X sees the end of that particular Apple product-X because HE no longer wants to use Apple Product-X. How many million versions of the OP's post are littered across the Internet's Mac forums?

My point is how many people who own a Mac Pro actually need a Mac Pro? For many it is probably a waste of space and energy.

 

[freeman727]

Actually 78.5% of Mac Pro buyers purchase them because they are the most suitable system.

hahaha, 78.5%

 

[smithrh]

This is either the second or third thread today where I've seen a MP referred to as a MBP...

Just sayin. It makes things hard to parse when the title says one thing then the body says something else entirely.

 

[freeman727]

This is either the second or third thread today where I've seen a MP referred to as a MBP...

Just sayin. It makes things hard to parse when the title says one thing then the body says something else entirely.

MB = macbook
MBP = macbook pro
MP = mac pro
iMac = iMac

 

[goMac]

My point is how many people who own a Mac Pro actually need a Mac Pro? For many it is probably a waste of space and energy.

I agree. Way too many people accidentally spend $2500 (at least) on power they do not need.

Apple stores are way too confusing. You're trying to buy a $1000 iMac, you get lost, and before you know it you're walking out of the store with a Mac Pro.

Happens to the best of us.

 

[scottsjack]

My point is how many people who own a Mac Pro actually need a Mac Pro? For many it is probably a waste of space and energy.

Yes but that's a non-argument for the demise of the Mac Pro.

Originally there were (for most people) DOS/Windows PC desktops. Then Macs become more popular and many people, including me, switched to Apple. Windows PC desktops still survived, I've still got two! Not everybody needed a desktop but that was the only choice at the time.

Then portables were introduced for both Windows and Mac. Some of the people who didn't really need a desktop switched to portables. Desktops still survived.

Currently many users who didn't even really need a portable have switched to Apple's giant/powerful iPod called the iPad. Especially iPad 2 will be perfect for many people. Their old desktops/laptops might be relegated to the single job of iPad Data Feeder. Yet laptops survive.

Many people who have jousted with themselves over whether to get a MBP or an iPad might have discovered that an Air gives them the best of both choices. They won't have the bulk of a MBP nor the weakness of an iPad. Yet as Airs thrive both tablets and laptops still survive.

New choices in computer hardware haven't seem to kill off the older species. The market just keeps fragmenting in a way that satisfies both new and old users.

Mac users who really need the traditional big box full of everything and the resulting flexibility will still by Mac Pros. If my late 2008 MBP magically turned into an early 2012 mega MBP or an early 2014 MBA that runs rings around my MP I would still be using the Mac Pro. Speed is only part of the equation.

 

[CaoCao]

The 2012 Mac Pros will probably be insanely powerful, it might Bench 50,000

 

[freeman727]

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With Apple all about the $$$ and their iMacs being mote powerful, do you think they will continue the small volume Mac Pros? How many people need 50,000 geekbench points?

 

[TheDoc]

This is either the second or third thread today where I've seen a MP referred to as a MBP...

Just sayin. It makes things hard to parse when the title says one thing then the body says something else entirely.

I think I will have to get off the Mac Pro train in 2012. When the Macbook Pro has the Ivy Bridge CPU with video equivalent to the 5770 I have now, I see no need for a power hungry and space occupying, albeit beautiful, machine.

Just sayin.

To the OP, I think at the end of the day there will always be a place in the market for a Mac Pro - whether or not Apple continues to put something there is up to them. Their laptops and iMacs certainly make up the most of the computer sales (not including iPods, iPhones & iPads) and they could probably just forget about the Mac Pro - but why would they?

I probably fit into the category of "doesn't really need a MP". But for me, expandability and upgrades were far too important. I already have monitors that I'm happy with, so a top of the line iMac didn't seem appropriate. I'm happy with my purchase, and look forward to throwing a Hex in there next year!

 

[goMac]

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With Apple all about the $$$ and their iMacs being mote powerful, do you think they will continue the small volume Mac Pros? How many people need 50,000 geekbench points?

They'll keep making the Mac Pro because the Mac Pro keeps making them money.

Everybody keeps saying Apple is going to cut the Mac Pro because of it's small market share, but the reality is that Apple will decide which machines to keep based on profitability, and the Mac Pro is a profitable line.

 

[derbothaus]

I say have fun with the new laptop. You sound like you know you don't need a Mac Pro. I really doubt a desktop solution in one form or another will not be made available. The Final Cut user base is like over one million users and those pros generally do not enjoy working with such limited i/o as all of Apple's other solutions. Can you imagine serving Xsan clients from 2 iMac's? Where does the fiber go? Maybe individual users don't need 12-cores but it makes fiscal sense to a business that can get 24 cores and 48 threads rendering speed for less than $12,000 by just buying 2 of the top models. There are more dramatic solutions out there than a Photoshop user at home. The Mac Pro owns that user base.

 

[Umbongo]

They'll keep making the Mac Pro because the Mac Pro keeps making them money.

Everybody keeps saying Apple is going to cut the Mac Pro because of it's small market share, but the reality is that Apple will decide which machines to keep based on profitability, and the Mac Pro is a profitable line.

Not only is it profitable (it must have the highest margins of any system they sell), it is integral to the ecosystem they currently have. If Apple were to announce the end of the Mac Pro rather than a new one before February 2012 it would be terrible PR. Pro Apps are moving to OS X, Final Cut is growing in user base and getting a new version, it has replaced the Xserve as the server option. To cut out the type of system most of them run on would be lunacy.

 

[FluJunkie]

People are also forgetting that, in addition to being high margin products (and they really are), Pros don't just but Mac Pros.

We own Macbook Airs for portability. Macbook Pros for when we need to do work on the road. iMacs for the front of house, and Mac Minis for...whatever people use Mac Minis for (because there's seriously a million ways to use a Mini).

That's driven by a workstation at the heart of the setup. If Apple abandons the Mac Pro, my next workstation runs Linux. What are the odds I'll buy premium Apple hardware to run that on? Or an expensive aluminum laptop? Or a $180 router...